Still barmy for Dad's Army

IT WAS 1968 – the year of riots and revolutions, assassinations and anti-Vietnam war marches.

Dad s Army is still as popular Dad's Army is still as popular

And amidst all the turmoil of that most dramatic of years the BBC first broadcast a television programme that was to become the nation’s best-loved comedy series of all time.

Yes, Dad’s Army celebrates its 40th birthday this year. And four decades on from the first

appearance of Captain Main­waring, Sergeant Wilson, Lance-Corporal Jones and the other members of the Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard, Jimmy Perry and David Croft’s classic wartime sitcom remains as popular as ever.

The show is still repeated regularly on TV, earning high ratings and helping it to win over a whole new generation of fans. There is a thriving Dad’s Army Appreciation Society with more than 1,400

members.

There are two Dad’s Army museums and a Dad’s Army

It was the Queen Mother s favourite programme It was the Queen Mother's favourite programme

walking trail in Thetford in Norfolk where many of the scenes for the series were shot. And last year it was announced that a bronze statue of Captain Mainwaring was to be erected in the centre of the town.

Over the past 40 years Dad’s Army has been enjoyed by people of all ages and all walks of life: celebrity fans include the Royal Family (it was the Queen Mother’s favourite programme), veteran politician Tony Benn and comedian Ben Elton.

In the light of this amazing success, it’s remarkable to think the programme very nearly didn’t make it  on to our tv screens. Actor Jimmy Perry, who had served in the Home Guard as a teenager, conceived the idea while on a train journey of a comedy series based on his experiences in the Home Guard. He wrote a couple of episodes and passed them on to BBC producer David Croft to read.

Croft was impressed and sent them to the BBC’s Head of Comedy Michael Mills, who commissioned a series. But then it hit trouble. “The BBC hier­archy had their doubts as they thought we were taking the mickey out of Britain in its finest hour. Top-level meetings were held and the whole future of the programme hung in the balance,” Croft recalls. 

Fortunately, Mills fought the show’s corner and Dad’s Army got the go ahead.

The original title for Dad’s Army had been Fighting Tigers. But altering the title was not the only important change that took place. Actor John Le Mesurier had originally been cast to play Captain Mainwaring with Arthur Lowe as his deputy, Sergeant Wilson. But Croft, who not only co-wrote the show but directed and produced it, was not happy at the thought of the laid-back Le Mesurier being the man in charge.

Then he and Perry hit upon the perfect solution: to switch the roles of the two lead actors. Lowe would be the pompous grammar-school educated bank manager who appointed himself the officer, while Le Mesurier would play the ex-public school chief clerk and sergeant. The switch worked like a dream: the interplay between Mainwaring and his socially super­ior deputy became one of the highlights of the series.

Other wonderful characters  played their part in making the show such a hit. Lance-Corporal Jones (played by Clive Dunn) was based on an old veteran from the Battle of Omdurman whom Perry had served with in his Home Guard days and who really did say: “They don’t like it up them.”

Private Godfrey (Arnold Ridley) was a mild-mannered medical orderly, always asking to be excused. Miserly Scottish undertaker Private Frazer (John Laurie) was convinced that the platoon was “doomed”. Cheeky Cockney spiv Private Walker (James Beck) was of great help when it came to obtaining black market supplies. And of course there was “stupid boy” Private Pike (Ian Lavender) based on Jimmy Perry himself.

At its peak Dad’s Army got viewing figures of 18.5million. In 1971 a Dad’s Army film was made and in 1975 a stage show followed. All in all nine TV series were made – a total of 80 episodes. Among the most memorable were The Deadly Attachment in which the platoon capture a German U-Boat crew; Sons Of The Sea, in which the

platoon think they’ve landed in enemy occupied France and My Brother And I, where Captain Mainwaring’s alcoholic brother turns up in Walmington-on-Sea determined to embarrass him.

How can we explain Dad’s Army’s long-lasting appeal? “I always thought it was a good idea but its success totally overwhelmed me,” says Perry. “The secret was that everything was right. It was one of those rare things: the cast was right, the time was right, the subject was right.”

Cultural historian Professor Jeffrey Richards believes Dad’s Army is a work of art, saying: “I would go so far to compare it with the works of Dickens and Shakespeare.” Richards believes Dad’s Army is popular because it reminds us of a gentler age. “In recent years the British national character has become sour,

spiteful, prurient and coarse. I think people looking at these shows see a gentler, nicer, decent and better kind of Britishness and they look back with genuine nostalgia.”

Dad’s Army certainly takes us back to a time when there was a real community spirit in Britain. But the appeal of the series is not only about nostalgia for the Forties. Unlike much of what passes for comedy today, the humour in Dad’s Army is affectionate and never nasty. Even the pompous Captain Mainwaring is at heart a loveable character, someone who we can feel sorry for as well as laugh at. “The most important thing with any sitcom is that it’s real, you care about the characters and believe in them,” adds Perry.

We certainly care about the characters, who have over the years become much-loved friends. Perhaps most importantly of all, in an era where family entertainment is at such a premium, it is a programme that all the family can watch and enjoy together.

Will we still be laughing at repeats of Dad’s Army in another 40 years? I think so. Good comedy is timeless and in creating Dad’s Army Jimmy Perry has bequeathed to us all a timeless classic.

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